Track Of The Day: Richard Ashcroft - 'Hold On' (Acoustic)

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft hasn't made a great album that I've enjoyed all the way through for nearly 20 years now. His previous outing from 2010 (as RPA and the United Nations Of Sound) saw him trying to "do an Ian Brown" and incorpororate hip hop and electronic influences into his sound. It was an artistic and commercial disaster. Six years on and he returns with a slightly more traditional record, his fourth solo album 'These People'. 

Although it reached number 3 in the UK album charts, the LP is not a great success musically. Recent single 'Hold On' boasts the album's most infectious hooks and would be one of Ashcroft's finest musical moments were it not for the ill-fitting, cheap-sounding digital production that hampers the song. A stripped-back acoustic version recently played when Ashcroft played a session for Radio 2 brings out the best in the song and is the recommended alternative. 

Read RW/FF's review of the album HERE.